There is a whole new array of products that can save energy for the new warehouse, and production floor.  The logistics community needs to be conservative in the use of energy, e we  are after all one of the biggest users of energy worldwide.  There are warehouses everywhere in the United States that run their operations 24 hrs a day.  Now I do not mean to say that we need to be regulated by OSHA on such things, I am saying that we should be self regulating, and responsible for the bottom line.

Cost is a great motivation to go energy efficient in the logistics world.  Most of the overhead costs related to logistics are utilities, equipment, and of course employees.  Utilities is an easy topic to cover with regard to saving energy, there are many different products that can help reduce the light bill so to speak.  There are energy saving light bulbs, there are sensors that will turn off the lights in a zone that is not occupied by an employee, there are electric forklifts that are very efficient, and very capable especially with existing technology.

There are new devices that help with the costs for production, and storage.  New energy efficient fans for warehouses is a good example, of how costs are being cut with the new available equipment in the market. This product covers two areas of inefficiency, fans that usually suck allot of energy and funds, also keeping the employee comfortable and productive.  (See Video in the link below for an example)

Bottom line there is no excuses for a logistics company not to explore the possibilities of energy efficient equipment, the up front savings on the bill alone should warrant an evaluation of one companies equipment, not to mention all of the new incentives that the government is now giving to companies to “go green.”

Let me know if your company is “going green”, I would love to hear some good ideas for logistics applications.

Regards,  Terry Hatchett

Faith by definition is what work really is, ” faith:[feyth] noun   1.confidence or trust in a person or thing: faith in another’s ability.  2.belief that is not based on proof: He had faith that the hypothesis would be substantiated by fact. 3.belief in God or in the doctrines or teachings of religion: the firm faith of the Pilgrims. 4.belief in anything, as a code of ethics, standards of merit, etc.: to be of the same faith with someone concerning honesty. 5.a system of religious belief: the Christian faith; the Jewish faith.” (Dictionary .com)

By this definition, work is faith.  Too many times in our “evolved” notion of business, we as professionals seem to think that faith does not belong in the practical world of business.  It is my contention that faith makes a business better. If one were to look at the true inovators in business they are pratictioners of faith. Examples of these practictioners, Bill Gates, Sir Richard Brandson, and just receiently deceaced Steve Jobs, just to name a few. All of these successful examples are proof that vision starts by having faith in an idea, that faith becomes a passion for the idea to then become reality.

What are the best things to place our faith in, or how does one practice having faith.  I know that the answer to these questions are within our own families.  If I as a manager cannot “manage” or motivate my own family with love, devotion, and patience.  Then how am I to turn the witch on at work?  In short one can’t dismiss faith in the work place and expect to be able become truly successful for any sustainable amount of time.  Work must become personal, and there is no more personal area of life than our faith.

This is just a nice video that explains my feelings about faith in my family, and how it can translate to me to be a better father, and in turn become a better manager of people.

Enjoy your Friday….

Terry Hatchett

I have just recently read an article about how vulnerable a company is with regard to electronics use out side of the company brick and mortar home.  (In House corporate blog by Find Law.com)  I know that the awareness of being the weak link with regard to company security for some professionals is simply not there, mainly from the “old school” crowd like myself.

I have gone wireless with most, if not all of my technology, so I have to question constantly, am I secure, is the information that I blog about going to compermise the promise of keeping unknown trade secrets?  In todays age we as professionals need to realize that however good it is to share our ideas, that perhaps those ideas are not supposed to be shared over the internet, on chat lines, or over the cell phone.

As I have said before there is no original thought out there, there are only variations to truths that have been around for ages.  Having said this, it could be a common trap for us to disclose ideas and thoughts that are considered trade secrets for the company that we are working for at the time.  Caution is the key when sharing ideas, discussing company issues, and most of all complaints about a company.

We are no longer alone with our thoughts; if we document our thoughts using blogs, emails, and voice mail we need to be aware and cognicent of our actions as consultants, managers, and board of directors.  There has always been consequences for making the mistake of stating the wrong thing, however, with today’s technology, that mistake reaches far more peole at a far greater rate of speed.   The point here is to be careful of what is shared and with whom that infromation is shared, there is a fine line between using technology to our advantage, and being taken advantage of by  those who are better with technology.

Tell me of your experience good or bad with this subject of “Being the weak Link.”

Terry Hatchett

It is ironic that most companies with a shipping department never consider the skill of the work force behind the scenes.  These men and women are paid the least, and do the most work. Take a skilled forklift driver, they are invaluable  to a company, with the rising cost of forklifts either to purchase or rent are at a premium, and skilled workers with this expertise are rare  indeed.

Training is an issue with most large and small companies with forklift drivers, a fine per infraction could run about $138.00 per infraction, one can imagine that could add up fast for a company. If a warehouse manager says to him/her self that training is the last thing to think about in warehousing, it would be a grave and costly error in judgment.  With a good training regiment, a company can see the results quickly, through the reduction of work-mans comp claims, equipment repair, and reduction of production stagnation due to lost employee time.

The most important commodity that a company has is the employee.  An exceptional warehouse manager will insist on understanding OSHA  forklift laws and regulations pertaining to his/her warehouse equipment.  If a manager were to take an hour out of his/her day and perform a safety check on all forklifts and check the forklift drivers certifications, it would  save the company money, it could potentially safe a life.

Here is a clip of what could happen if training is neglected:     (Ignore the music this is no laughing matter)

Please comment on the video, I would like to hear some feed back

Regards

Terry Hatchett

Reverse logistics is the future in logistics, with everything and everyone going “Green”, every business will want to concentrate their efforts with regard to reverse logistics. In essence reverse logistics is a concept that any product returned to a company can be reused for other purposes.   As Overstock.com (retailer) logistics managers we used reverse logistic as means to recycle our customer returns.  The source of our return purchases were “Jobbers”.

Jobbers would be clients of ours that would by pallets of product, rather than individual pieces.  They would take what was ever on the pallet regardless of content.  This was an easy and effective way of solving an economic issue for Overstock while being green in the process.  These Jobbers would then sell their product to their vendors, and then their vendors would in turn sell them to the end user.  So in reality the product (the
good product) that would come back to us would eventually go back to the end
user.  The residual unusable product would then be recycled as raw material.

A good example of conducting themselves well in this arena is Nike.  As written in an article in Logistics Management.   Logistics Managment highlights that “Nike reuses 75,000 materials that go into its various products in the course of just one year.”

Having a sound reverse logistics platform only makes sense for a company, and for the environment.  Waste not want not, right….

I thought since it was Saturday today that I would post something fun on my website.   I love to have fun and I think that Old Spice has is right with their marketing.   Who would not remember this commercial?

Love it….

I ran across this today, thinking that it was light in content yet very effective in portraying what Supply Chain on a Global platform approach should be.  Again this is not an in-depth view of the subject, rather it is a nice easy way to understand at a basic level what a Global supply chain should consider.

Expansion is always hard for any company, especially in this crazy economic environment that we have to exist in today.  But there are ever-increasing opportunities to be a leader in a variety of locations and markets world-wide.  So let us pull up our boot straps and get to work, and let us not be discouraged from taking the chance on growth.

ASU has a great Supply Chain program, I would encourage anyone who would like to earn a degree in Supply Chain to look into ASU, here is just an example of how ASU approaches the topic of Global Supply Chain.

Reform in the trucking industry with regard to its laws is a paramount move that the United States Congress needs to make.  With the help of organizations such as CTP http://www.transportationproductivity.org/), we will see a reform in the area of weight management for tractor trailers, or semi’s as it were.

The world uses more of a liberal approach to weight limits on shipping than the United States, this will put us behind the curve when it comes to being competitive with the world market.  Other countries are able to ship with greater weight capacity,(of times unsafely I might add), you just have to watch “IRT Most Dangerous Roads” on the History Channel for an example.   We can be safer and save time on product turnaround, and  therefore save on gas expenditures. Efficiency is what Logistics is built around, if the United States does not allow for transportation law reform, we will be left behind the global market yet again.

MH&Lnews.com reports “  The Coalition forTransportation Productivity (CTP), a group of about 200 shippers and allied associations dedicated to responsibly increasing federal vehicle weight limits on interstate highways, launched a digital video campaign to rally support for federal truck weight reform legislation known as the Safe and Efficient
Transportation Act (SETA), S. 747, H.R. 763. CTP produced the video to educate
the transportation community about SETA and about giving states the option to
grant interstate access for heavier, single trailer trucks equipped with safer
six axles instead of the typical five. “The Coalition for Transportation
Productivity is on a mission to mobilize the transportation industry around
SETA,” said CTP Executive Director John Runyan. “Shipping costs are on the
rise, and available truck capacity has dropped by 16 percent since 2008. If
U.S. shippers expect to emerge from the economic downturn and be competitive in
the global marketplace, the entire shipping industry needs to rally around the
truck weight reform effort and urge Congress to pass SETA.”

It is nice to see that there are organizations such as CTP helping the United States with the country’s infrastructure; we must organize as a community to insure that we stay competitive in our own market, and the world market.

It is no wonder that American Airlines (AA) is expanding its capabilities to the world of Cold Supply Chain logistics. They are losing money with regard to passenger count, so why not add supplies charter to their resume. Business has to diversify, if they do not, well we can see the end result, they shut down and fail. American Airline saw the economic trends long ago, which is why they are able to stay ahead of the curve with regard to income opportunities.

Dave Brooks of AA Cargo is quoted by Logistics.com “Our new
ExpediteTC Passive cold-chain service provides our customers with another
important option for moving time- and temperature-sensitive cargo,” “The
worldwide rollout of this service is supported by extensive training to provide
a consistent, reliable service across our network.”

Cold Chain Logistics is used to help extend and ensure the shelf life of products, fresh agricultural, produce, frozen food, photographic film, chemicals and most profitably pharmaceutical drugs. In the “get it now” world of logistics, this is not only a viable business move by AA, but one that could trigger more to come in air shipments.

If you look at the advantage of time compared to say intermodal (by train), the airlines will be able to become viable trafficker of perishable goods. Logistics.com further quotes the specifics of the technology “The new solution, called ExpediteTC  Passive, supports ambient temperature control using state-of-the-art cool rooms, expedited handling processes and high-visibility monitoring to ensure cargo is handled within desired
temperature ranges. This offering augments American’s current service,
ExpediteTC Active, which utilizes dry ice and battery-powered containers to actively
regulate temperature levels, regardless of ambient conditions.”

Fuel as with all logistics will play a role in the profitability  of this venture by AA, this project is off to a good start.  By using the same fuel to transport passengers to ship temperature sensitive goods is just plain good logistics.